The Mystery of Nico di Angelo
by Peeta Melark
Summary: Leo finds Nico crying and decides he should try to help. This is just a one-chapter story about the beginning of a friendship.


I walked along the deck of the Argo II. It was dark—very dark and cold in spite of it being summer. I wasn't cold, though. I didn't get cold anymore. Something about the prophecy… It felt like my blood was boiling inside my veins: a fire I couldn't quell no matter how hard I tried. I could feel something coming, something bad. And I could feel it in my heart that I would have to stop it.

Crying stopped me on my way back below decks. It was coming from near the foremast, a figure hidden deeply in shadows. Somehow, I had an inkling of who it might be, but I pushed those thoughts aside. Whoever it was needed my help. The crying was so violent it sounded almost like choking! Huge gasps of breath were followed by shuddering sobs. It was horrible, and I only knew one person who might be in enough pain to make that kind of sound.

"Nico," I murmured, reaching out for the figure huddled in the dark. It, or rather he, backed away from me, using his feet to slide closer to the walls.

"Go away," he whispered. His voice was hoarse, scratchy and hardly there. He'd been crying for hours, I guessed, maybe even since the beginning of the day. We'd been too busy planning to come looking for him. That mustn't have made things better.

I knelt down, or tried to. The strategic placement of his feet made it difficult. "I'm not going anywhere until I find out what's wrong."

Yeah. It was a moronic thing to say, and very cliché at that, but I was kind of desperate.

Nico didn't ask me to leave again. Rather, he _suggested _it. His fingers reached toward his sword before he thought better and shoved them in the pocket of his jacket. I got the message easily enough, though. _Leave or I _will_ stick this up your nose_.

Being me, I decided to accept the challenge. I swung my legs in front of me and sat cross-legged in front of Nico. He glared at me, but it looked like he'd all but given up arguing. Good. I wasn't in a mood to argue. Instead, we just sort of sat there in silence. Crushing, awkward, brittle silence. I felt breakable. Not only that, but the air around me felt breakable. It was like a single move would shatter the whole universe. Yep. _That's_ how awkward it was. And Nico was staring at me like I'd dropped in from Mars. I grinned.

"You got something you want to tell someone? Could _I_ be that someone you tell?" As soon as I said it, I realized how much it sounded like a pickup line. "I mean, uh, you should probably get it off your mind…"

Nico scowled. "You wouldn't understand," he grunted. I could tell from his tone that he wanted to tell me—or at least tell _someone_—but he was too scared. He was probably wondering if telling would make it better, but afraid it would make it worse.

I let the smile drop off my face. "Try me, Nico," I said in my best comforting voice.

"So… you know how you like the girl from the island—C-Calypso, and Percy likes Annabeth, and Jason likes Piper and H-Hazel likes Frank?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "What're you getting at?"

He swallowed, bracing his shoulders against the base of the foremast. "I don't… I can't…"

"Do you like Annabeth? Is that it?"

That was the final straw. I broke him. Nico started panicking, kicking at the floor, trying to press himself even more into the shadows. As I leaned over to grab him, keep him from getting hurt, he kicked out at me, knocking me back several feet.

"It's not _Annabeth_," Nico spat. "Why do you all think it's _Annabeth_?"

I didn't know, and I told him so. "Well, I… Jeez… I guess we just assumed you've known her the longest. And you're always all blushy around her—especially when Percy's there, so…" I trailed off, unable to finish the thought. Something was nagging the back of my mind, and I couldn't place what it was. Part of me knew what he was trying to say, but the other part was in a kind of denial.

Nico compensated for my idiocy. "Around _Percy_," he said. "You've answered your own question, genius."

For a second, I had no idea what he was talking about. Then it hit me. _Around Percy_. Nico didn't have a crush on Annabeth, but rather a crush on _Percy_!

"Dude, I'm so sorry," I said. Nico glared at me.

"For what? Being what I am?"

"What you are—?" Oh. Yeah. Smart, Leo. "You mean _who_ you are, and no. That's not it. I'm sorry you've had to keep all this shut up when we're all here for you. Admittedly, you're a pretty creepy guy, but not so much now that I've seen your soul."

"Seen my soul?" Was I imagining it, or was that a smile touching the corners of his mouth?

I fumbled through another sentence, even though I probably shouldn't have.

"Well, you know. I've sat here and talked you through some tears, and I know you're gay and all… so…"

"You're actually fine with it?" Nico asked incredulously. I laughed.

"Why not? I mean, it's not the _weirdest_ thing I've ever heard of. We fight monsters and Mother Earth is evil. It's not even weird _at all_. It's normal these days, even if it wasn't in the 1940s. Okay? And, come on. You're really crap at hiding your crushes. It's now blaringly obvious to me that you have a crush on Percy."

Again, I was given a gracious, beautiful scowl that could have killed Gaea in a heartbeat. I didn't even flinch. Okay… maybe a little.

"It is _not_ blaringly obvious," Nico corrected me. "And I _don't_ appreciate you telling me how much of an open book I am."

"Oh," I said. "You're not an open book. And—let's face it—I'm pretty dyslexic. I can't read you like a book, but I do know a bit about pain, and I know a bit about fixing stuff. What do you say you stay with me for a while? We'll be best friends, and I promise I won't crowd you _too_ much."

At first he looked skeptical, but then a smile broke out across Nico's pale, haunted face. It almost chased the shadows away. But some part of me knew that those shadows would never wash away fully. They were etched deeply in Nico's expression, his eyes, even that smile.

"Oh… Okay…" Nico murmured. He looked almost panicked, even though he was no longer crying. Blotches of red streaked his face from the tears. "Just… don't tell anyone."

I smiled, standing up and helping Nico to his feet. He took my hand, albeit grudgingly, and allowed me to haul him up. I didn't realize it then, but when I got to the mess hall, Piper said I was grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah?" I said, my eyes probably twinkling. "You would be too. I've just cracked the case."

"Excuse me?" Piper asked, furrowing her brow. "What case?"

"The mystery of Nico di Angelo."


End file.
